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Emmanuel Macron will meet Donald Trump on Monday carrying a message that the US must remain committed to a flawed nuclear deal with Iran because there is no “plan B”.

In an interview on the eve of his trip to Washington as the first foreign leader to be afforded a full state visit by the American president, the French president discussed his reputation as the “Trump whisperer” and his hopes for averting a trade war.

He also insisted the US was committed to rebuilding Syria, warning that Mr Turmp's threatened withdraw could leave the door open to Iran to fill the void.

Iran and alliance-building are expected to dominate his meetings with an American president known for his unilateralist instincts.

In particular, officials say they will discuss Iran on Tuesday ahead of a May 12 deadline for Mr Trump to decide whether to reimpose sanctions and scuttle the Iran deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Mr Macron said the deal was not perfect but he would implore Mr Trump not to abandon it for fear of turning Iran into another North Korea.

“What is the plan B? I don’t have any plan B for nuclear against Iran,” he said.

But he said he agreed with Mr Trump that more needed to be done to rein in Tehran’s development of ballistic missiles and its meddling across the Middle East.

“My point is to say don’t leave now the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] as long as you don’t have a better option for nuclear and let’s complete it with ballistic missile and regional containment,” he said.

At the same time he said he hoped Mr Trump would drop his plans for tariffs on aluminium and steel and said he was bringing a wider message that the president needed allies if he was to pursue his interests.

“It's too complicated if you make war against everybody,” he said. “You make trade war against China, trade war against Europe, war in Syria, war against Iran. Come on. It doesn't work. You need allies. We are the ally."

He also issued a stark warning of more war and instability if Mr Trump made good on recent promises to pull out of Syria as soon as possible.

“If we leave… we will leave the floor to the Iranian regime, Bashar al-Assad and these guys, and they will prepare the new war,” he said. "They will fuel the new terrorists.”